Russia’s Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin has been invited to join President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” a committee positioned to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction under a UN-backed American plan to demilitarize and rebuild the territory after two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a regular briefing that Putin “received through diplomatic channels an invitation to join this Board of Peace,” adding the Kremlin is reviewing the invitation and is seeking additional details from the US side.
Later Monday, Belarus’ Foreign Ministry said President Alexander Lukashenko also received an invitation, with Minsk’s press service stating it highly appreciates language that described Belarus as ready to take on the “noble responsibility of building a lasting peace.”
Trump has described the body as “the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled,” and the membership model includes a financial lever: members receive a permanent seat if they pay $1.0 billion, according to a US official.
The same official said there is no requirement to contribute funds, but members who do not make the $1.0 billion payment would receive a three-year term.
All funds raised are designated for rebuilding Gaza, the US official said, adding there will not be “exorbitant salaries… or massive administrative bloat” seen in other international organizations.
Russia’s role in the Israel-Hamas war has been limited, though it offered to mediate shortly after the conflict began, citing ties to both Israel and Hamas. Russia does not officially designate Hamas a terror group, and senior Hamas leaders visited Moscow weeks after the October 7 attacks, despite at least 20 Russian citizens being killed or kidnapped in those attacks.
In 2024, Palestinian factions met in Moscow, and TASS reported earlier this month that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was set to visit Russia later this week.
The committee is chaired by Trump and, as described, will include former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump has also invited Israel to join as a founding member state, a senior Israeli official told CNN on Monday, saying the invitation was extended to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or another Israeli representative on his behalf.
It remains unclear how many invitations have been sent, with disclosures emerging primarily through national statements rather than the White House. Invitations have been acknowledged by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, according to statements from them or their offices.
The US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, said India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also invited.
Some leaders, including Orbán, publicly shared invitation letters that show Trump addressed them personally while inviting their countries to join as a founding state.
Signs of discontent have surfaced in Europe. Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee warned Sunday that the body proposed by Trump “would have a mandate wider than the implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan,” arguing the UN has a unique mandate to maintain international peace and security and that “the primacy of international law is more important now than ever.”
Putin’s appointment would represent a sharp re-entry into a high-profile international coordination effort after Russia was widely shunned from cooperation projects following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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